I saw in amazement that an huge container ship hit an US battleship near Japan. How is that possible? An container ship needs about 2 miles to change course; thus goes in an straight track to its destiny. An US battleship is highly maneuvrable with huge engines pumping out a lot "horses". So what is wrong with this picture; sleeping at the helm? They should have been able to see that huge ship from quite an distance. Yes the US is getting in the way of everything!! Ha ha.

On the surface this collision is grossly criminally negligent. I have been on the bridge of a Navy Ship underway. I have seen a ship first identify a five gallon can floating partly submerged and then manuever away from it. In the case of a ship getting close to a Navy Ship general quarters would be sounded in order to deal with the imminent danger. Unless unbelievable mitigating conditions are being kept secret this collision was a directed act commited by the destroyer.

Weird. Maybe the captain of the ACX thought he or she passed Tokyo bay and did a U turn thinking that, and with it being dark, night time, ran into the navy destroyer? Drunk or disoriented captain? Some crew members of the navy ship were in sleeping berths below deck. Seven deceased/killed US sailors recovered.

Schmidt Wrote: The U-turn of the ACX Crystal is indeed strange behavior and probably accounted for the collision. But no US warship should ever have a collision of any type if the crew are paying attention.

Anyway, Trump can add the "repair cost" to its armed forces budget; that is what you get if you poke your nose in everything around the world and think the oceans and seas are yours to patrol where ever you like, even in shipping lanes. (cost nothing of course)

The damage on both ships indicates the container ship was almost stopped and backing down and the destroyer was dead in the water. They just barely touched. That actually was very little damage for two huge masses coming together. The container ship was almost stopped and at the very instant of impact actually started going backwsrds. The damage didn't extend laterally to any extent do the destroyer was dead in the water or barely moving. For the container ship to be stopped they had known for sometime they were on a collision course. All lot of things were being over ridden by manual controls.

Why the Captain was injured is a real mystery. There are a myriad of electronics that private boats have that warn of ships in the area and that set off alarms when ships cross certain distances. That is just on private citizen boats. That ship would have alarms going off that have to be reacted to. Unless everything was turned off because of the heavy shipping traffic.

Peculiar and bizarre. This should never happen. Sadly too many weren't paying proper attention and the unthinkable happened. Where is the blame going to go. Everything is somebody's fault. How can this be avoided in the next 20 years ?

The damage on both ships indicates the container ship was almost stopped and backing down and the destroyer was dead in the water. They just barely touched. That actually was very little damage for two huge masses coming together. The container ship was almost stopped and at the very instant of impact actually started going backwsrds. The damage didn't extend laterally to any extent do the destroyer was dead in the water or barely moving. For the container ship to be stopped they had known for sometime they were on a collision course. All lot of things were being over ridden by manual controls.

Why the Captain was injured is a real mystery. There are a myriad of electronics that private boats have that warn of ships in the area and that set off alarms when ships cross certain distances. That is just on private citizen boats. That ship would have alarms going off that have to be reacted to. Unless everything was turned off because of the heavy shipping traffic.

I'd hardly call 14.6 knots a stop, that's 16.8 mph, so you really can do a lot of damage to a smaller vessel. Picture a 100,000 pound 18 wheeler moving at 17 mph ramming a modern day sheet-box like a Toyota, you can do a lot of damage.

I also would think that a ship can fully stop the engines and reverse thrust to avoid a collision, but not being a sailor, I don't know if that's possible on a large ship.

The navy ship's captain might have been below deck either trying to warn the 7 sailors, or he could have been sleeping along with them. Chet, once general quarters is sounded, how much time do you have to put on your pants and shoes and have the sailors out of their sleeping berth?

The container ship was not going 14 knots when it hit the destroyer. At 14 knots both ships would have sunk in a few minutes. According to the news the container ship hit the in the middle of the side of the destroyer. The damage was so small that the container ship hit at the instant the container ship was stopping and going in the opposite direction. There was relatively a lot of time from when the container ship knew it was going to collide until it hit.. Something really mind boggling was going on that allowed the collision to take place. Since the Captain was taken off I suspect it has something to do with the cause of the collision.

A meme that I read yesterday criticized that this happened several days ago and officially the US isn't flying our flags at half (not sure of the proper word) to pay tribute. Seems like a wasted opportunity by the potus in training.

Dockadams Wrote: The BBC News says the freighter was moving 14.6 knots when it rammed the navy ship, Chet, which or whose news story are you reading?

My opinion based on the plotted course of the container ship in the link provided and the weights of the two ships and pictures of damage. The container ship had to be fully loaded to have damage to the upper bow. Loaded that container ship weighs 40,000 tons. That much weight at 14.6 knots is an unbelievable unstoppable force. The plot shows the container ship making a right angle turn at the point of impact. A right angle turn on a ship that big can only happen when the ship is stopped. I follow the course and see the container ship stopping. The only thing that stops a ship that big is propulsion system. I say the container ship was backing down under full power and the collision happened just as the Crystal stopped. Then it made the right angle turn and proceeded on its way. International regulations require that ship to have stayed at the collision sight. For the damage to be as small as it is both ships had to be almost dead in the water. What makes it really bad for the Navy is the size and weight of the container ship. Right of way rules are superseded by maneuverability in open ocean and designated channels. The USS Fitzgerald was obliged to stay clear of and give right of way to the container ship.

Dockadams Wrote: The BBC News says the freighter was moving 14.6 knots when it rammed the navy ship, Chet, which or whose news story are you reading?

My opinion based on the plotted course of the container ship in the link provided and the weights of the two ships and pictures of damage. The container ship had to be fully loaded to have damage to the upper bow. Loaded that container ship weighs 40,000 tons. That much weight at 14.6 knots is an unbelievable unstoppable force. The plot shows the container ship making a right angle turn at the point of impact. A right angle turn on a ship that big can only happen when the ship is stopped. I follow the course and see the container ship stopping. The only thing that stops a ship that big is propulsion system. I say the container ship was backing down under full power and the collision happened just as the Crystal stopped. Then it made the right angle turn and proceeded on its way. International regulations require that ship to have stayed at the collision sight. For the damage to be as small as it is both ships had to be almost dead in the water. What makes it really bad for the Navy is the size and weight of the container ship. Right of way rules are superseded by maneuverability in open ocean and designated channels. The USS Fitzgerald was obliged to stay clear of and give right of way to the container ship.

Yes Chet absolutely correct; but yeah we've got so many warships, so we just do as we like in the world with these toys because of pure arrogance. Who cares the taxpayer does not mind; let's built some more which we then can park as museum pieces after a while.!!